RAP HAS NO MELODY

Recently an acquaintance of mine told me that Rap and Hip Hop does have melody it’s just not melody in the traditional form.  He went on to explain that melody in Rap and Hip Hop is actually in the inflection of the vocal.  The melody is all in the way the rapper says what he is saying.  So this morning as I was having breakfast I pondered this.  I am, if anything, open to the idea that perhaps I have formed the wrong opinion of the genre, which is that it should not be considered a musical genre at all and is actually a spoken word genre.  As I tried to look at it from his point of view I literally laughed out loud and almost spit out my coffee.  When I pull up at the Taco Bell drive through window and order my usual three crunchy Taco Bell Grandes with extra hot sauce I am not using melody to convey my message.  I am talking.  Equally, when I yell at the guy who has just cut me off in traffic because he was so consumed with his cell phone that he didn’t see me I am not using melody to convey my message.  I am yelling.  Talking and yelling does not constitute melody and it is certainly not singing.  And therein lies the rub because that is what rappers do.  They talk and yell.  The fact that they do it over a rhythm and a beat does not make it a melody.  It is still just talking and yelling that happens to be happening over top of a rhythm track. They rhyme much of their ranting but it’s all greeting card bad so I really can’t even give them credit for writing or being lyricists.  It’s just absolutely horrible, third grade writing.  So needless to say I completely disagree with the concept that there is melody in Rap and Hip Hop and feel that my acquaintances attempt to justify it as a legitimate form of music is completely wrong.  My aquaintence also went on to say that the reason I have such disdain for the genre is because I am prejudiced, something that sounded quite strange coming from a 60 year old white guy and an accusation I didn’t even dignify with a response.  Hell, I don’t like Kung Fu movies either but it doesn’t mean I dislike Chinese people.  I simply do not like or respect the genre of Rap and Hip Hop or the people who are involved in the business of it.  I don’t feel that it is in the same league as the music I perform and/or listen to which involves people actually playing musical instruments and really singing.  I understand and accept the fact that it is a form of entertainment but I do not consider it to be music.  I think it’s a shame that our culture has not only accepted this form of entertainment as music but also rewarded the no-talent people who perform it and made many of them multi millionaires.  Children now grow up idolizing these guys and aspiring to emulate them.  Something that isn’t hard to do because they don’t actually have to learn to play a musical instrument or nurture a natural singing gift so the cycle continues.  And as this cycle feeds upon itself the whole entertainment industry gets dumbed down and in the process our whole culture gets dumbed down.  And so it goes . . .

MY FIRST BLOG POST

I’ve thought about having a blog for some time now.  I don’t really know why I should want one, it just seems like something I should have as part of the cyber side of myself.  Although I’m very computer literate and internet savvy I admit that I haven’t really been keeping up with the fast moving pace of technology.  I have had multiple internet domains to promote my music for years.  I have a personal Facebook page and a musician/artist Facebook page.  I have a twitter account but I do not use it.  I've only sent four tweets in a year.  I have a cell phone but I still only use it for verbal communication and I haven’t moved into the world of smart phones.  Mine is an old flip style phone and I don't text with it, don’t take pictures with it, don't surf the internet on it and I have downloaded no apps to it.  I have also not yet bought a tablet or electronic book reader.  I still read my books and magazines the old fashioned way and I still surf the internet on a traditional computer.  I do have an Ipod and have embraced the convenience and portability of the technology but I still prefer to buy CD’s over downloading music so that I can read the liner notes and overall I still prefer the audio quality of analog.  And now I have a blog and I’m wondering just what I’m going to do with it.  Somehow it all just seems to be too much!!  What am I supposed to do with all this cyber space that’s available to me??  What do I fill it with and where do I find the time to fill it??  It seems I would have to be connected and entering content continually just to be able to keep everything tied together.  Twitter, Facebook, blogging, website uploads, texting, skype, email.  It's mind boggling!!  And in taking the time to deal with all of this available cyber communication how much of the real world will I be missing??  The connection I have with nature and the planet. Tasting the salty smell of the Bay as my sailboat catches the wind, digs in and begins to slice through the waves.  Sitting at the waters edge on a hot, humid Maryland night under the twinkling stars and full moon watching the aerial light show dance of fireflies  against the contrast of the dark woods on the other side of my small cove.  Walking on a brisk, late November evening as a damp, foggy warm-front gives way to a windy cold -front that is opening the door for the coming Winter.  The real world sights, sounds, smells, interactions and experiences that I enjoy and that have made me the person I am.  I realize that I am fast growing old and that I am not of a generation that has grown up with and/or is growing up with all of this technology that surrounds them.  They know nothing other than this and they are faster, quicker and smarter than I'll ever be at figuring out and utilizing it all.  Still, I have to wonder if something isn’t being given up in exchange for this instant and interconnected world we now live in.  There is a yin and a yang in life.  A tidal ebb and flow.  Something found means something lost and I think something is in the process of being lost.  Maybe it's not necessarily a bad thing, I don't know.  Only time will tell I guess but what I do know is that it's all moving too fast for me.  I'm slowing down while the world is picking up speed.  Are we speeding toward a sociological or civilizational crash and burn or are we evolving toward a new and different level of enlightenment??  I have no idea.  The question I'm currently pondering is whether it's worth it to try to keep up with it all.  Oh, and just what the hell I’m going to do with this blog.  Hmmmmm